


What It Means To Me

by mercurys_loverboy (FandomStar)



Series: Freddie and Arthel ~ "Canon" [5]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: 1970s, Angst, Apologies, Arguing, Best Friends, M/M, Making Up, Male-Female Friendship, Pre-Relationship, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-05 04:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19041334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomStar/pseuds/mercurys_loverboy
Summary: Three times that Arthel met Mary Austin.





	1. 1976, A recording studio in London

It was Brian who invited Arthel to the studio. He quite often dropped by at the coffee shop the aspiring musician worked at, so Brian had taken the opportunity to give Arthel the address of their studio.

Surprisingly, Arthel had taken him up on the offer.

When Arthel found the studio, Queen were in the middle of recording. As he quietly shuffled in, joining a blonde woman who was taller then him, he noticed Freddie grin at him through the window. After a moment, a drumstick was hurled at Freddie when he didn't start singing, and the singer narrowly avoided being hit by it.

"Freddie never gets distracted while he's recording." the woman beside Arthel commented, dragging his eyes away from Freddie.

"Yeah, I can imagine." Arthel replied.

The woman smiled softly.

"Mary Austin. I'm... an old friend of Freddie's." she told Arthel, introducing herself.

"Arthel Jenkins, I'm a new friend of the band." Arthel replied.

A moment later, Freddie bounded through a door.

"Arthel! Bri told us he'd asked you to come!" he cheerfully said, slinging an arm around Arthel. "I see you've met Mary!"

"Well, I've known her for about ten seconds, yeah." Arthel replied, grinning.

Freddie grinned back, not quite managing to hide his teeth.

"I'm sure you'll find her a pleasure to be with," he gushed, before more lightly telling Arthel, "I'm glad you could make it."

Casually, Arthel shrugged.

"I don't have anything better to do, with work over for the day," he teasingly replied. "Thought I'd take up Queen's offer and watch them record. They're a pretty big deal, you know."

As he and Mary laughed, Freddie playfully swatted Arthel's shoulder. Freddie then glanced through the window, seeing that an argument seemed to be breaking out, and sighed.

"I should make sure they don't tear each other apart," he said, rolling his eyes, before bowing to Mary and Arthel. "Enjoy the rest of the show, darlings!" 

He winked at Arthel, before disappearing into the studio. When he was out of earshot, Mary glanced at Arthel.

"He really likes you." she commented, her head tilted slightly.

Arthel met her gaze.

"Yeah?" he replied, before his eyes went back to Freddie. "I like him, too."


	2. 1977, Freddie's Kensington flat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the argument between Mary and Freddie gets a bit heavy, so be prepared for that.

As he woke up, Arthel groaned sleepily. It took him a moment to remember where he was. He was in Freddie Mercury's flat, in Freddie Mercury's bedroom and curled up on Freddie Mercury's bed in nothing but his boxers.

He was also alone. However, he was cuddling the pillow his boyfriend had slept on, probably arranged by Freddie when he got out of bed.

Now that he remembered where he was, Arthel remembered why he was there. He and Freddie had decided to watch a movie being shown on TV together. Afterwards, they'd made out lightly, before Freddie suggested they go to bed to get some sleep. Arthel agreed, after quite some convincing, to join Freddie on his room.

It had also taken Freddie a bit of effort to reassure Arthel that, yes, he could sleep shirtless, if that was what he was comfortable doing (not that there was much choice, unless he wanted to wear the shirt he'd been wearing all day). Arthel was convinced that that would be the final straw - that seeing him shirtless would be the thing to convince Freddie that Arthel wasn't really a man.

But that didn't happen.

Freddie just got into bed after him, wrapped his limbs around Arthel and murmured 'goodnight' against his shoulder before practically dropping dead.

At the memory, Arthel snuggled closer to Freddie's pillow with a content grin. He was disturbed from his peace by giggling from the lounge. With a groan, Arthel sat up. Lazily, he threw on one of Freddie's dressing gowns (a lovely red satin one) and made his way out to the living room. When Arthel stood in the doorway, he was taken aback by the appearance of Mary Austin on the sofa beside Freddie, who was still wearing his silk pyjamas.

"Oh. Freddie, I didn't know you had company." Mary commented, a little wide-eyed, when she saw Arthel.

Mary's eyes caused Arthel to subconsciously decide to cross his arms across his chest. Brightly, Freddie grinned at him when he saw him in the doorway.

"Arthel! Join us, darling!" he cheerfully invited, beckoning his arm to the space beside him. 

A little wary of Mary, through not knowing her very well, Arthel sat next to Freddie, who wrapped an arm around Arthel's waist and nuzzled against his cheek.

"How did you sleep, my dear?" Freddie asked.

"Alright, thanks," Arthel replied, smiling as he pressed a kiss to Freddie's mouth, before looking at Mary, who seemed a little uncomfortable. "Sorry, Mary. Morning. How are you?"

"I'm okay, thanks," Mary replied, still seeming a bit shocked at Freddie and Arthel's (rather innocent) display. "How... how long have you...?"

Freddie looked a little panicked. 

"Two months." he lightly told her.

"Two months? And you didn't tell me until now?" Mary demanded, clearly hurt.

"Mary..." Freddie started, trying to find a way to explain his reasoning of not telling Mary about his relationship with Arthel.

Uncomfortable around the new tension between the two best friends, Arthel gently rested a hand on Freddie's shoulder.

"I'll go and get dressed," he murmured, mostly to Freddie. " _Talk._ I'll see you in a bit."

He stood up, trying to ignore Freddie's silent plea for him to stay as he went back to Freddie's bedroom.

"Mary, I wanted to tell you-" Freddie started.

"You met him  _three months_ after we broke up!" Mary exclaimed.

"Oh, I didn't realise that I shouldn't make new friends after breaking up with someone," Freddie sarcastically replied, before sighing. "When I met Arthel, our relationship was over, and I didn't feel like I knew enough about myself to want a new relationship."

"But you did fancy him. I could see it."

"Yes, Mary, I did, but, darling, it isn't against the law to have a crush on someone!"

Arthel could hear all of this as he was getting dressed in Freddie's bedroom. He felt like he was intruding, but, at the same time, it was  _his_ relationship being discussed. Surely he had a right to know what was being said.

"I wanted to tell you, Mary, but I didn't know how to, because I knew that you'd be upset." Freddie admitted to his best friend.

"Upset? I don't even-" Mary exclaimed, before pausing.

"Mary, I only wanted-"

"I just don't understand what you see in him, Freddie."

"That's because you don't know him, if you did... Mary... I'm in love with Arthel. Why can't you accept that?"

Feeling his thoughts become more and more negative, Arthel tuned out of the conversation.

"But, Freddie, from what I can tell, he doesn't even have the... parts of a man!" Mary told Freddie.

Arthel wished he hadn't overheard that. As he sat on the bed, he vaguely clocked Freddie saying something in his defense. All of his doubts from the night before came flooding back to him, fuelled by the memories of similar comments made toward him, of the hate and scepticism he'd been on the receiving end of. 

Arthel didn't know how much time had gone by before he felt arms wrap around him. Returning the hug, he pressed closer to Freddie, who stroked his hair.

"I'm so sorry you had to hear all of that, darling," Freddie whispered. "I didn't anticipate her being quite so upset."

"Not your fault," Arthel murmured against Freddie's neck, rubbing his boyfriend's back comfortingly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that with her."

They stayed in that embrace for a while in silence.

"I had planned to meet up with Roger this morning and take you both shopping," Freddie mentioned. "I can cancel on him."

With a small smile, Arthel pulled away from him.

"No, that sounds fun," he said. "Don't cancel."

Grinning, Freddie kissed Arthel's forehead.

"I knew you'd agree, my love!" he replied, gleefully.

Arthel traced Freddie's jaw with a finger.

"You might want to change before we meet him, though," he commented. "As nice as they are, I don't think you want to be going out in pyjamas."

Freddie looked down at himself, and laughed. 

"You're absolutely right! They  _are_ gorgeous!" he agreed. 

Arthel laughed back, standing up.

"I'll sort breakfast out," he told Freddie. "Get dressed!"

"Of course," he promised, planting a kiss on Arthel's lips. "I love you, Ell."

"I love you, too, Fred," Arthel replied, as he left the room. "Get dressed!"


	3. A week later, Arthel's flat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a tiny bit rushed, but I think it's alright, so I'm posting it.

When Arthel answered the knocking at his door shortly after getting back from work, he was met by an unexpected head of blonde hair.

"Hi, Arthel." Mary Austin cautiously greeted.

"Mary," Arthel replied, tensely. "How did you...?"

"I went to see Freddie earlier. He told me to apologise to you, which I was going to try and do anyway, so he gave me your address." Mary told him.

"Okay." Arthel said, still wary.

He didn't move from the doorway. Mary sighed.

"Like I said, I'm here to apologise for what happened the other day," she started. "I'm sorry I said all of those things. I was just so upset, and I don't even know why! I expected this to happen, I knew it would! I wanted to think that I've moved on, but I haven't. I don't think I ever completely will, really. Part of me will always be in love with Freddie. But I'm glad that he's happy, because that's what's important, and he  _is_ so happy with you around, I've been able to tell since I met you."

Slowly, Arthel nodded as he took in Mary's apology.

"I don't blame you for still loving Freddie," he eventually said. "But... it's going to take a lot to make up for what you said about me."

Mary nodded.

"I... I know. I shouldn't have been so judgemental, especially when I don't even really know you," she told Arthel. "I want to change that, though. I'd like to be on good terms with you, even if it's just for Freddie's sake."

Searching for a hint of insincerity, Arthel looked into Mary's eyes.

"Yeah... I'm okay with starting over," he agreed after careful deliberation. "Wait here."

He disappeared into his flat to find a scrap of paper and a pen. After wracking his brain for the address, date and time, Arthel scribbled down his next gig. He went back to the door and passed the paper to Mary.

"If you want to see one of the things Freddie initially saw in me, come along," he told Mary. "Fred'll probably be there. The other guys might pop by too."

Mary glanced between Arthel and the paper he'd given her.

"Thank you, Arthel. For letting us start over."

Arthel smiled a little crookedly.

"Like you said - for Freddie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this! I mostly wrote this just to get some sort of relationship between Mary and Arthel, because I only actually have one interaction between them, which I thought wasn't good considering Mary was Freddie's best friend!

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from the song Love Of My Life by Queen.


End file.
